Georgia agriculture commissioner asks Senate subcommittee for funding to shore up labs, hemp enforcement, HPAI response and vehicles

Commissioner Harper asked the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources on March 18 to sustain recent House increases to the Department of Agriculture budget and to consider additional funding for enforcement, emergency response equipment, laboratory capacity and agency vehicles.

Harper told the committee the department is organized into 22 divisions, issues about 70 licenses and funds its work with roughly an 80/20 split of state and federal funds. "We are HPAI free as of 03/04/2025," Harper said, noting that the state27s export markets are open again and that the department remains "not letting our guard down" on avian influenza monitoring and response.

Harper said loan and grant activity tied to the department27s disaster-response programs is proceeding. "We have now approved 239 applications for a total of $85,570,000," he said, and added that the agency reopened the application period on March 12 and that it "will stay open" for the additional funds the House provided.

Why it matters: the commissioner framed the requests as measures to protect Georgia27s largest industry and to ensure the agency has the capacity to carry out statutorily required emergency responses. Several items raised affect ongoing export-sensitive programs (avian influenza surveillance), licensing and regulatory enforcement (hemp), and infrastructure needed for food-safety testing (labs at Tifton and Atlanta).

Key House changes and agency asks - The House27s FY26 version added transfers for the Center for Rural Prosperity and Innovation (House Bill 495) and moved roughly $2.4 million into the agency27s consumer-protection division; Harper said the center27s work would align with the department27s marketing and rural-economy mission. - For the department27s safety and recovery programs, Harper said the amended FY25 budget and subsequent actions produced a $285 million package that allocates $150 million to the "safety 24" program and $135 million to a forestry grant program administered with the Georgia Forestry Commission and the development authority. - The House included $20,000,000 "for design and construction of a new Atlanta regulatory lab at the Atlanta Produce Terminal here at Forest Park," Harper said, adding that the House funding represented "about half of the money" the department sees as necessary and that the agency would ask the Senate to fund the remaining share.

Hemp program enforcement and licensing revenue Harper described the hemp program as a continuing budget pressure. He said the department currently has roughly $550,000 in base funding for hemp program staff (investigators, lawyers and licensing personnel) and that the House increased the governor27s recommendation to about $792,000. The department originally requested roughly $1.37 million as the minimum…